It's widely acknowledged that modern Europeans mated with Neanderthals at some point in the past. We're just not entirely sure when or where. The recent discovery of an ancient skull in Israel may represent the critical missing link anthropologists have been looking for. »1/29/15 7:40am 1/29/15 7:40am

For centuries we've celebrated events by throwing stuff at each other: leaves, flowers, candy, rice and colorful strips of paper. But how did this tradition start? A fascinating article on the history of confetti reveals how this act of revelry might have had violent beginnings. »6/13/14 10:28am 6/13/14 10:28am

For the very first time, scientists have produced genetic evidence that today's indigenous North and South Americans are all descended from a single population that trekked across the Bering land bridge from Asia. »2/13/14 4:00pm 2/13/14 4:00pm

Archaeologists working at Qusem Cave in Israel have uncovered a 300,000 year-old hearth. It's the earliest evidence of repeated fire building over a continuous period by humans. »1/28/14 2:40pm 1/28/14 2:40pm

An ancient skull found in a cave in the Annamite Mountains in northern Laos has revised our conceptions of when humans first occupied Southeast Asia and Australia. The skull, which is the oldest modern human fossil ever discovered in that part of the world, shows that ancient humans inhabited diverse habitats far… »8/21/12 8:00am 8/21/12 8:00am

We hear a lot, in science fiction, about things that now serve us but will soon kill us. Like robots. But what about the reverse — things that used to kill us in droves, but now serve us? »3/30/12 10:09am 3/30/12 10:09am

Scientists developed an experiment that reveals whether our long-dead evolutionary cousins Neanderthals are right or left handed - just from dental records. They did it by relying on evidence from stone tools, and humankind's innate klutziness. »4/22/11 3:30pm 4/22/11 3:30pm

Blombos Cave in South Africa may have harbored a group of early humans whose tool-making techniques outpaced those of other groups by many thousands of years. Today scientists announced the discovery of more sophisticated tools from this unusually advanced civilization. »10/28/10 12:00pm 10/28/10 12:00pm

Meet Ida, the 47 million year old fossil who may represent one of our earliest known ancestors. She's probably the most complete primate fossil ever discovered, and she explains where humans (and lemurs) come from. »5/19/09 12:20pm 5/19/09 12:20pm